11-YEAR-OLD SPARKS FUND-RAISING EFFORT FOR DYING CHILDREN

When 11-year-old David Krakower gave a speech to his sixth-grade class on Tuesday, he had no idea he was igniting a schoolwide fund-raising effort for Sheryl Horton, the Greenacres City mother of three dying children.

"It makes me feel pretty good," David said on Thursday, after counting the $102.32 collected so far for the needy family.

David told his classmates at Loggers' Run Middle School west of Boca Raton about the dollars and support pouring in to help the sick children and their single mother.

"People from all over, rich and poor, are donating time and money to help this young single mother," David wrote in his current events report, based on a story that appeared in the Sun-Sentinel last Saturday.

"She and the girls live on a tight payment that the government gives them of only $1,300 a month," David reported to his class.

The Horton girls, aged 3, 5 and 8, are dying of a degenerative illness, Sanfilippo's Syndrome. They will revert to a helpless, mentally retarded state, eventually requiring tube feeding. They are expected to die by their teens.

"Even the 8-year-old and the 5-year-old girls can't feed themselves and depend on their mother to change their clothes and diapers," David said in his speech.

David's report especially touched classmate Chris Neely, also 11. Chris said he could not stop thinking about the Hortons, not even after he got home from school on Tuesday.

"Why should innocent people have to die like that?" Chris said.

Chris has already given $5.75 of the $15 he received in Christmas gifts.

"That's more than a third!" said Horton, who was touched by the children's willingness to help her.

"That is just the most wonderful thing!" Horton said. "You don't expect that of a sixth-grader."

Chris also came up with the idea of going door-to-door in his suburban Boca Raton neighborhood to ask for contributions. So far he has collected $25.

"She's divorced. She's all by herself. She's got three children that are helpless. I think she needs as much help as she can get," Chris said. "I'm going to do the best I can."

David decided he, too, would solicit money from neighbors.

The idea was catching on.

By Thursday afternoon, the boys' teacher, Deborah Dudek, had received permission to invite all classes in the school to join in the fund-raiser.

David, a student in the gifted program, has since given his speech to Dudek's seventh- and eighth-grade gifted students. Some of them will seek money from neighbors this weekend, Dudek said.

"It's all their idea. It came from their hearts, not mine," Dudek said.

David's first speech, in sixth grade, prompted much discussion about the Hortons' plight, Dudek said.

"It was kind of a quiet hour. David asked, 'Do you want to help her?' He made no bones about it. Some of the children pulled out what money they had left over from lunch right then. That's when is started. It's still coming in."

Horton said she would like to come to the school in person to accept the money.

She would also like to bring her eldest daughter, Victoria, who is most debilitated by the disease.

"If they are going through all this for me, I can take Victoria down to meet them. With Victoria, they would get more of a realization of the disease because she's in a wheelchair," Horton said.

David, Chris and Dudek were thrilled that Horton would visit the school.

"I'd like to hand her the money in person. It would mean much more to me," said David, who wants to be a lawyer someday.

"I think it would be a tremendous learning experience," Dudek said.

"So many times, the children need a hands-on experience," Dudek said. "They need to put into perspective what life can be like for those less fortunate. They need to know that not everyone grows up to be a lawyer or doctor."

The boys' mothers said they were pleased.

"I was pleasantly surprised by their sensitivity and response," said David's mother, Beth Krakower.

"I'm a nurse myself," she said. "The whole thing is a pathetic situation. I can't imagine going through life knowing that I'll be losing my three daughters."